"how-to" Pho challenge

My advice on "how-to" do a pho challenge

don't let the noodles sit out too long

Okay I know. "How do I deal with the heat?" I don't know I just deal with it; in Asian culture I'm used to eating stuff off the grill in Korean BBQ or right out of the boiling pot in Shabu Shabu so the heat right when it arrives doesn't bother me at all. I mean it's not like I can chug right away but I can definitely start slurping on it and put a dent in it. For me, this is more worth it than dealing with soggy noodles later...cuz that just tastes NASSTTYYY.

Separate bowls

When it does get TOO hot...I do ask for extra bowls to help cool it down quicker if they allow it...this allows me to eat faster and chug the broth sooner so I can finish faster...good Strat...just be careful when transferring over the broths to different bowls ;)

Usage of ice

I've noticed a lot of y'all telling me to use ice to cool down the broth; that's fine if you want to drink more liquids at the end...but the broth is already too dense and hard to get thru since straight up liquid is different from eating actual food; but it's entirely up to you if you want to deal with it. IF the challenge doesn't require you to finish the broth; then by all means go ahead :) I do the same as well if this is the case.

Beverage choice

A lot of my challenges I like to drink sprite; and it can be anything carbonated; I just choose sprite because it has no caffeine otherwise Imma be bouncing off the walls later LOL. But Anyway, I like the carbonation because like I said earlier the broth is too DENSE and having carbonation gets me that "burp" during the challenge so I'll be able to "create" more room. :) Some people claim this might make them more full - but this is just what works for me...plus soda is ice cold too! Helps cool me down.

Distraction

I usually finish all the filling first...and when I get to the part I need to finish the broth; I ask for a boba straw or a big ladle or something so I can finish it off quicker instead of taking a million sips with a tiny spoon. Now the distraction part is helping me mentally to get my mind off the food. When I have trouble getting the last bit down; I like to use my phone; watch TV or SOMETHING so I'm not concentrating on the food in front of me; helps me eat more and not think about it as much.

Okay That's all I can think about for now if you have more questions contact me HERE and I'll add more to this page or to my FAQ section; below will be my in-depth commentary of Pho Challenges I've done and how it differentiates from each other; Hope you found this useful! Love you Guys <3

*** WARNING: SPOILERS ***

"Pho Century" Pho Bowl Challenge - October 7, 2017

Details: 3lbs of Broth; 2lbs of Noodles; 1lb of Meat - Finish it within 30 Minutes to get it for free + T-Shirt + Pot Prize $$ to spend at the restaurant.

THIS WAS MY FIRST EVER PHO CHALLENGE! I didn't have a 'set' strategy coming into this one since I was fairly new to the game...maybe only been doing food challenges for about a month so I was EXTREMELY nervous; especially about finishing the broth. But looks like my natural Asian powers of eating noodles and soup came in handy LOL I handled it really well and even tied with the record time on my first try...What was interesting here though was they allowed you to choose the type of meat you want; so I chose shrimp; which I think is lighter than beef; I think that helped a lot. Soooo if you ever get the option to choose seafood; I recommend that more! :) Also here I picked out most of the shrimp first then saved the noodles for later...so Protein...then Carbs

The Bamboo Cafe "Pho Real" challenge - December 1, 2017

Details: Finish everything in the bowl; 2lbs of Meat and 2lbs of Noodles and get it for free + a T-shirt + Picture on Hall of Fame! BROTH DOES NOT HAVE TO BE FINISHED.

My first experience with a pho challenge where you didn't have to finish the broth. Suprisingly I didn't find another pho challenge closer to home; this was like an hour and half drive out. Anyways I didn't use ice because I didn't think about it but I actually got the idea after reading you guy's comments so THANK YOU for the advice! But like I said I deal with heat pretty well and it didn't bother all that much :) There was a LOT of noodles though so I'm really thankful I didn't have to drink the soup, a lot more than my last one...but I got thru it...ANNNNDDD since it was so far away from home and I didn't want to go thru the 5 o'clock traffic I found another challenge to do nearby; CLICK HERE to check that video out.

Pholicious "pho-nominal" Challenge - January 2, 2018

Details: Finish this 6lb of Pho, including broth, within 30 minutes to get it for free + a T-shirt

10585 Slater Ave Ste 4A Fountain Valley, California 92708

Results: I finished in 16:52 and set the record time!

So for some reason the popularity this pho video of mine sky-rocketed and it really surprised me! Just want to give you guys a shout-out for helping my channel grow so fast! But anyway, I found this challenge digging thru yelp for another pho challenge and the people here were extremely friendly and later turned into friends of people I work with later on!! Small world..lol The shape of their bowl was really cool; but it was hard to "pick up" and chug; so they gave me a huge spoon for this one which I found really useful...Also this is around the time I started developing my 'style' to do food challenges so I asked for a sprite right away because I know that carbonation would help me. Delicious Challenge!

Pho Xpress "12lb Pho Challenge" - March 10, 2018

Details: Finish this within an hour to get it for free!

650 S Lincoln Ave Ste 110 Corona, California 92882

Results: Finished right in about 30 Minutes <3

Around this time is when I started to amp up my "water" training to stretch my stomach out to hold more food...and it really shows that it pays off in this video...This pho challenge was by FAR my toughest one; as you can tell it took me a lot longer to do than my previous ones...Of course the hardest part was the broth...the bowl was MASSIVE and unfortunately Kevin was unable to finish. So I definitely do NOT recommend doing this one if you do not have the proper training for it otherwise you'll end up sick most likely since there is so much liquid intake required for this. Generally if the time limit for a pho challenge is longer than 30 minutes...you know it's gonna be a hard one.

top 10 oriental "big stomach" pho Challenge - April 10, 2018

Details: Finish this in 30 minutes and get it for free + a picture on the Hall of Fame!

​6165 El Cajon Blvd Ste A San Diego, CA 92115

Results: Finished in the fastest time @ 10:26

There were a lot of people on the Hall of Fame so I already figured that this one isn't going to be insane and I was already looking to do another challenge afterwards; which I did @Rudford's 24 Diner There wasn't as much broth compared to my previous one in Corona; the meat, the noodles; everything was significantly less so if you're looking to find an easy pho challenge, this one is in San Diego!

Seeing how I finished it so fast pretty much within 10 minutes it doesn't come out PIPING hot either; I felt it was like lukewarm...again I used sprite to help me out as well.

iLovepho's 10lb pho challenge - June 6, 2018

Details: Finish within 30 Minutes to get it for free + $200 CASH PRIZE!

2731 S. Rose Ave B103 Oxnard, California 93033

Results: I finished in 21:20 and Wayne and I became the first people to ever complete this challenge!

Wayne is visiting from New York again! He's my coach and has been really pushing me to do my training!! With that being said I had to 'show-off' and do my best LOL This one was no easy task either; it was a fairly large bowl and no one has ever been able to complete it...I actually made a mess in this video but the people that own this restaurant are super nice so I didn't get disqualified for what I did haha. Anyway You'll see in this video the difference between my heat tolerance compared to other people just because of the culture I was raised in.

Corner pho's "massive bowl of pho" challenge - June 11, 2018

Details: Finish all the noodles and meat to get it for free, a T-shirt, and a picture on the hall of Fame within 50 minutes BROTH DOES NOT HAVE TO BE FINISHED

1190 #100A Hillsdale Ave San Jose, California 95118

Results: Pretty much finished around 13 minutes

Shoutout to MATT STONIE for coming out to support me!! What a nice guy and an absolute honor to meet my inspiration for food challenges lol. and Also @vansgoodeats for inviting me out to do this challenge during my trip up to San Jose!

So another pho challenge that didn't need the broth to be finished! WHICH I was very, very thankful for because the bowl was absolutely MASSIVE. I did enjoy the amount of meat they had in here though; all my past pho challenges the amount of meat was minuscule and didn't satisfy my meat cravings teehee. I also did use ice to help cool down the broth this time since I didn't need to finish it and it helped a lot. :) Also shoutout to my long-time supporter Christ for coming to cheer me on as well!